The Syrian Tragedy: Western Foreign Policy and its Useful Idiots

Written on October 25th, 2016 in politics Comments Off

Published on Global Research.ca, by Adeyinka Makinde, Oct 24, 2016.

Recent media focus on the humanitarian crisis in the Syrian city of Aleppo has revealed the government promoted propagandistic methods of the Western mainstream media, which shorn of context and rich in bias uncritically accepts the narrative presented by politicians and attempts to shape public opinion to suit the needs of a war agenda … //

… A recent article in the Daily Mail written by the historian Dominic Sandbrook entitled, “Putin’s useful idiots: Warped, deluded, ignorant. Corbyn’s support for Russia shames his party and his country”, utilized this angle in attacking Jeremy Corbyn, the opposition party leader in the United Kingdom Parliament, over over his rejection of British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson’s calls for people to demonstrate outside the Russian Embassy in London. Sandbrook, who describes Russian bombardment of the Syrian city of Aleppo as “one of the defining atrocities of our time”, likens the fate of the city to that of Guernica, the Basque town which in 1937 was subjected to heavy and indiscriminate bombing by the Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War.

Corbyn’s official spokesman, Seumas Milne’s response to Johnson, that the real tragedy was that Aleppo is “diverting attention” from the true villains in Syria; namely Britain and the United States, drew the ire of Sandbrook who accused Corbyn and Milne of exhibiting a characteristic of the “hard left” which is naturally inclined to anti-American sentiment and that is unabashedly unpatriotic and idealistic to the point of foolhardiness.

But whatever the merits of the criticism meted out against the ideological foibles of the political Left, Sandbrook’s disavowal of Western responsibility for the condition in which Syria is presently in is erroneous. What is more his piece, which is totally devoid of the true context of the Syrian conflict, smacks of being a propaganda-laden piece that is calculated to drum up public support for United States and NATO intervention in a tragedy which was the brainchild of the Western powers and their allies in the Middle East.

It is useful to begin by addressing the origins of the war in Syria. This cannot fail to take into account the unjustified invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq by a coalition of forces led by the United States, a feat which was accomplished with the wholesale connivance and support of Britain. This event and the subsequent occupation created the circumstances for the radicalisation of large elements of the Sunni population. The genesis of what has come to be known as the Islamic State starts in Iraq with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian jihadist who pledged allegiance to Osama Bin Laden and formed al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a militia which became a major force in the anti-American insurgency … //

… By abandoning the idea that both Russia and the US-led alliance have jihadist militias as the common enemy in place of one earmarking Russia as the enemy and the obstacle to peace, the West and its mainstream media are effectively inviting a catastrophic collision between two nuclear armed powers. As General Dunford informed the Senate hearing of September 22nd, the imposition of a ‘No Fly Zone’ “will mean war with Russia.”

A war, it may be added, which would arise as a result of the illegal enterprise of arming a largely foreign-imported contingent of mercenaries to overthrow the government of a sovereign state. A war that would happen after consistent illegal violations of Syrian airspace and one for which the United States Congress has not given constitutional authorization.

Jeremy Corbyn proved to be right in his dissent in regard to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and he is clearly right when he ascribes blame to the United States, Britain and their allies for the Syrian tragedy.

In the final analysis, it is Western journalists with the stances of Dominic Sandbrook who are fulfilling the appellation of ‘useful idiots’.

(full long text).

(Adeyinka Makinde is a writer and law lecturer with an interest in geo-politics who is based in London, England).

Links:

Anonymous claims it took down Ecuadorian govt webmail after embassy banned Assange from internet, on RT, Oct 24, 2016: Hacktivist group Anonymous said it had shut down the Ecuadorian government mail in retaliation for its decision to cut off WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s internet connection for the period of the US presidential elections …;

The Vietnam War and Our Latest war on Yemen Have One Thing in Common: Nonexistent Attacks, on Dissident Voice, by Joe Clifford, Oct 22, 2016:

Europe’s Trade Policy: Can A Phoenix Rise From The Ashes? on Social Europe, by Sebastian Dullien, Oct 20, 2016: When the European heads of state and government meet at the European Council this week and discuss EU trade policy, it will be very hard to gloss over one obvious fact: that policy lies in shambles;

Trey Gowdy On Hillary’s Treason Email Scandal ‘be in jail’, 64.33 min, uploaded by Politics For The People, Oct 20, 2016;

US: Gun Control Is Desperately Needed … For The Police, on Paul Craig Roberts, by blog owner, Oct 5, 2016; His latest book: The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West, Paul Craig Roberts author, on amazon;

Underground Bases Located in the North Carolina Mountains, 44.32 min, uploaded by Global Explorers, Sept 12, 2016 … could we have a new Area 51? Discusses the alleged Deep Underground Military Base at PARI. The New Area 51, a major 30 mile wide Alien and Military base in North Carolina? Can this be true? In this on going investigation, Mary Joyce makeS startling claims of a huge UFO and Man made Alien space craft base in the heart of some of the most picturesque scenary in the United States, in Western North Carolina;
Website: Subterranean Bases (worldwide);
(again: Secret Underground Complex);

6 règles d’or pour que votre cerveau continue à fabriquer de nouveaux neurones, dans Science et Avenir.fr, par Stéphane Desmichelle, le 12 Sept 2016: saviez-vous que, à n’importe quel âge, votre cerveau a le pouvoir de fabriquer en permanence de nouveaux neurones ? A condition de respecter quelques principes … mais: les expériences chez les souris ont montré que cette capacité pouvait diminuer, voire même disparaître (en cas de stress) selon l’environnement. Au contraire, dans un environnement adapté, la neurogenèse chez les rongeurs a été multipliée par trois en quelques semaines … par exemple: 3. Bannir anxiolytiques et somnifères …;
Voir aussi sur YouTube: S3ODEON, PIERRE-MARIE LLEDO – des cerveaux à neurones ajoutés, 9.12 min, mise en ligne par S3Odéon Sciences Santé Société, le 7 sept 2016;

The New Chinese Entrepreneur: How China’s Entrepreneurs Turn Inefficiency into Opportunity [VIDEO], on The Financialist, by Credit Suisse, June 6, 2016: where others see irritating problems, entrepreneurs see opportunities. Hear Credit Suisse Head of China Research Vincent Chan discuss how Chinese entrepreneurs have turned inefficiencies in commerce and finance to their advantage and what their efforts mean for the future of digital innovation in China …;

… and this – with Dr. Steven Greer:

uploaded by Bill Johnson 2016:

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